SVH11-Too Good To Be True (9 page)

"What's Mr. Collins got to say about all this?" Todd wanted to know. "Has anyone asked him?''

"Dad talked to him the night it happened. According to him, Mr. Collins seemed pretty

upset. But he said he wasn't going to go around publicly denying it because people were still going to believe what they wanted even though it wasn't true."

"Sounds like something Mr. Collins would say."

They were on their way over to Cara's to meet some of the other kids from school and pool their resources for Lila's birthday present. Elizabeth wasn't thrilled over the prospect of going to Lila's party that evening, but she supposed there was no getting out of it without appearing rude. Besides, Suzanne had agreed to go with Aaron Dallas, and the two couples were planning on spending some time together at the party. After the ordeal Suzanne had been through, Elizabeth wanted her last night in Sweet Valley to be fun.

Todd suddenly smacked the steering wheel with the heel of his hand. "What if Mr. Collins
is
telling the truth? What if Suzy imagined the whole thing?"

"I wish it were true," Elizabeth said. "But, Todd, you didn't
see
her. She was so upset she could hardly talk. I practically had to pry the story out of her. Besides, why would anyone make up an awful thing like that?"

"You're right." Todd made a left turn onto Cara's street. "It would be crazy to want to

get a nice guy like Mr. Collins fired for no reason."

The group that was gathered on Cara's back patio was divided into two factions: the get-Mr. Collins-fired bunch versus the ones who were loyal to him, no matter what.

"I don't care what anyone says," spoke frizzy-haired Olivia Davidson, her blue eyes flashing with indignation. "I don't believe Mr. Collins would do something like that."

Olivia worked on the paper, too, and was devoted to the handsome young faculty adviser. She shared his liberal views and hated injustice just as much as he did.

"Well,
I
believe it," said Cara, who was passing out sodas. "I've always thought he was the lecherous type. I've caught him looking at me more than once. Besides, he gave me a D on my last English essay."

Todd and Elizabeth exchanged looks. Cara was one of the biggest gossips in school, as well as being Jessica's best friend. She was probably responsible for the rumor spreading as quickly as it had.

Perhaps recalling his own experience at being the center of rumors, Ken spoke up in Mr. Collins's defense. "Aw c'mon, Cara, you think

every guy is looking at you. Anyway, if Mr. C was so hot for you, why'd he give you a D?"

Cara glared at him, but she had no real comeback. Elizabeth couldn't suppress a tiny smile. It wasn't often that Cara was struck speechless.

"I don't think someone should be hanged before all the evidence is heard," said John Pfeifer, sports editor for
The Oracle.
"I'm not saying he
didn't
do it. I'm just saying we should hear his side, too."

"I'm with John," Enid agreed. She, too, had suffered at the hands of gossips once upon a time when an ugly episode from her past was exposed by Jessica.

"Not me. The whole thing is just
too
disgusting for words," Caroline Pearce pronounced, giving her carrot-red hair a prim toss. "I mean, to think a maniac has been on the loose at Sweet Valley High all this time and no one even suspected!"

Tom McKay snickered. Obviously the idea of Mr. Collins as a maniac struck him as funny.

"I don't think it's a laughing matter," said Winston, shooting Tom a black look. Everyone turned to stare at him. Winston hardly ever stopped kidding around; so on the rare occasions when he got serious, people took notice.

"Poor Suzy! Think of how she must have felt. Wow, I wish I'd been there to protect her!"

"Yeah, Mr. Collins would've
died
laughing," Cara whispered to Caroline.

Elizabeth couldn't help feeling sorry for Winston. Except for a few short, happy months with Mandy Farmer, he was always falling in love with girls who were unattainable.

"Well, whatever happened, it must have been horrible for sure," said John Pfeifer.

Elizabeth sighed. "I wish there was some way of making it up to her. I know it sounds dumb, but I can't help feeling sort of responsible. After all, if Todd and I hadn't gone to the game that night, I would have been baby-sitting for Teddy and none of this would have happened."

Winston brightened. "I've got it! Why don't we use part of the money we collected for Lila's present to buy Suzy something really neat? You know, sort of a going-away present."

"Hey, that's not a bad idea," Ken chimed in. "Lila's so rich anyway, we don't need to get her anything very expensive."

"I love it!" Elizabeth cried. "I know exactly the thing to get her, too. We were out shopping yesterday, and she saw this blouse she really liked. It would be perfect for her."

Even those who still doubted that Mr. Collins had done anything wrong were enthusiastic

about the idea. Driving home with Todd, Elizabeth felt better than she had the past two days. Maybe she could even manage to have a good time that night in spite of her depression over Mr. Collins.

On impulse, she decided she would also use the money she'd begun saving toward replacing her lost lavaliere on a pretty scarf she'd that would go with the blouse for Suzanne. After all, look at the time Suzanne had spent helping her search for her necklace! It was the very least she could do, Elizabeth thought.

Thirteen

"How do I look?" Suzanne asked as she stood before the full-length mirror in Elizabeth's room.

"Too gorgeous for words," Elizabeth pronounced. "You'd better watch out, Suzy. You may start a riot in that dress."

Suzanne smiled. "Pete gave me this dress last Christmas. Wasn't that sweet? It's a Halston--it must have cost a fortune. I'm always telling him he shouldn't spend so much on me."

"Well, in my opinion it's worth every penny. On you, at least." Elizabeth wasn't so sure how she would look in something as elegant as the off-the-shoulder white satiny dress Suzanne was

wearing. She'd probably look like a high school junior masquerading as Princess Diana. On Suzanne it was naturally chic.

Suzanne laughed, bending down to adjust the straps on her cream-colored high-heeled sandals. "Oh, Liz, you could probably make a hippo feel like Christie Brinkley."

It was good to see Suzanne in such a happy mood, Elizabeth thought. Ever since the night at Mr. Collins's, she had seemed so withdrawn. Now her eyes sparkled, and the paleness was gone from her cheeks. Dressing up for the party had done wonders for her.

As for herself, Elizabeth had chosen a slightly simpler outfit for the occasion. Looking in the mirror, though, she decided she didn't look too bad. She was wearing her favorite velvet skirt and a high-necked, lace Victorian blouse. Suzanne had helped her fix her hair in a fancy trench braid, into which she'd tucked a sprig of fragrant honeysuckle.

"You look as if you belong on one of those old-fashioned Valentine's Day cards," Suzanne commented. "Todd's going to flip when he sees you."

"Thanks, Suzy. I just hope Dad doesn't insist on taking our picture out by the pool the way he did the last time we got all dressed up.

Actually, it was sort of funny. Jessica was so busy hamming it up for the camera, she didn't watch where she was going and ended up falling into the water. It was her own fault, but boy, was she mad!"

Suzanne sighed. "It must be fun having a sister."

"You wouldn't say that if you knew Jessica. I mean, I love her dearly, but she can be a real pain in the neck sometimes."

Suzanne cast Elizabeth a shy look. "I know this is going to sound incredibly corny, but these past couple of weeks you've been so fantastic about everything, Liz--well, I can't help thinking of you as sort of a sister. I hope you don't mind."

"How could I mind?" Tears of emotion filled Elizabeth's eyes.

What a fool,
thought Suzanne. Elizabeth was almost
too
easy to trick. The same with her whole family. Look at how they'd swallowed that story about Mr. Collins. All she had had to do was mess her hair up, rip her blouse a little, add a few tears--and presto. Oh, it was too juicy for words! It was all she could do to keep from laughing in their faces.

As far as Roger Collins went, well, he was only getting what he deserved. It would serve

him right to get fired after the way he'd treated her.

I
snowed
him,
she gloated to herself.
No one can ignore Suzanne Devlin and get away with it!

"You know, Suzy," Elizabeth continued, "I'm going to miss you like crazy when you leave."

"You're the sweetest girl in the whole world!" Suzanne gushed.

"The
second
sweetest," Elizabeth amended laughingly.

The doorbell chimed downstairs.

"That's got to be Aaron," Elizabeth said with a glance at her clock. It was exactly eight. "Todd is always at least fifteen minutes late. Lateness is like a religion with him."

Suzanne inspected her reflection one last time. Then she dabbed on some perfume and grabbed the lacy shawl that she'd dropped on Elizabeth's bed. As she was dashing out of the room, she stopped to give Elizabeth a peck on the cheek.

"Thanks, Liz."

"For what?"

"For being my friend. For helping me make sure that creep Mr. Collins got what he deserved."'

Suzanne frowned, and for an instant she no longer seemed beautiful to Elizabeth. Her lovely eyes narrowed into mean slits. Hatred twisted her mouth into an ugly grimace. Then tile moment passed, and Suzanne looked her old

sweet, smiling self again. Elizabeth blinked. She must have imagined it. Suzanne could never be

ugly.

As soon as Suzanne had left, Elizabeth fished the gift-wrapped box out from the back of her closet, where she'd placed it after she'd gotten home from shopping in the afternoon. Suzanne's suitcase lay partially open on Jessica's bed. On the spur of the moment, Elizabeth decided to put the present inside it. That way Suzanne would find it the next morning when she finished packing. She smiled to herself, imagining how surprised Suzanne would be.

She was rearranging some things inside the suitcase to make more room when something glinted up at her from the folds of a skirt. Elizabeth fished it out. Her lavaliere! What was it doing in Suzanne's suitcase?

Her stomach did a slow cartwheel of disbelief. There was no possible way her necklace could have gotten into this suitcase unless Suzanne had put it there.

But why? Why would Suzanne want to take her necklace? It didn't make any sense at all.

There had to be some other explanation, thought Elizabeth. A perfectly normal explanation. She would ask Suzanne about it when she got to the party. But right then she couldn't imagine what it might be. What if Suzanne

really
had
meant to steal the necklace? What if ...

She heard Todd's car in the driveway. With trembling fingers, she hastily fastened the lavaliere about her neck and hurried down to meet him.

Fourteen

"You seem so quiet," Todd remarked, reaching out and squeezing Elizabeth's hand. "Is anything wrong?"

"I'm not sure," she answered thoughtfully. "Remember I told you I'd lost my lavaliere?"

"Yeah, I remember. You were really upset about it."

"Well, I found it."

"That's great! Where was it?"

"In Suzy's suitcase."

Todd looked confused. "How did it get there?"

"That's the part I'm not sure about. Todd, how
else
could it have gotten in there unless she
put
it there?" She shook her head. "But it's

absolutely crazy. Why would she do a thing like that unless she meant to--" She couldn't finish the sentence.

"Steal it?" Todd supplied. He frowned. "You're right. It's crazy. I can't imagine Suzy doing anything like that. But that's how we felt about Mr. Collins, remember?"

"How could I forget? Oh, Todd, I'm so mixed up! And I'm starting to get the funniest feeling...."

"Yeah, me too. Gives me goose bumps."

Absentmindedly Elizabeth fingered her lava-Here. "Suppose, just suppose Suzy did take my necklace. Would that mean she lied about Mr. Collins too?"

"I thought you said there was no way she could have lied."

'
I thought so, but--well, now I'm not so sure." Elizabeth buried her face in her hands. "Oh, no, what am I saying? That Suzy ripped her own blouse to make us think Mr. Collins attacked her? Why would anyone do such a hideous thing?"

"Maybe," Todd said slowly, "we've been looking too hard for a reason. What if there was no reason? Remember that book we all had to read in tenth-grade English--
East of Eden?
There was that beautiful girl, Cathy, who everyone thought was so sweet and wonderful."

Elizabeth shivered as if caught in a sudden draft. She remembered the book well. It was one of her favorites.

"And underneath Cathy was really rotten to the core," she finished for Todd. She wrapped her arms around herself in an attempt to stop her shivering. "But that was just a book. If someone was really like that, you'd know, wouldn't you?"

"Maybe not. Some people can be pretty good fakers. What about the time before Bill Chase and DeeDee Gordon got together, when your sister pretended to be you so that Bill would fall in love with her? And she was so convincing that Bill actually bought her act?"

Elizabeth bit her lip. "But that was just Jessica. She's never done anything
really
bad."

"No comment," said Todd, staring straight ahead as he angled the car up the steep road leading to the country club, where Lila's party was being held.

Elizabeth knew how Todd felt about Jessica-- and he certainly had enough reason to feel that way, she supposed. But Jessica's past wrongs had nothing to do with the problem at hand. And anyway, if what Elizabeth was thinking were true, then Jessica would look like a Goody-' Two-Shoes in comparison to Suzanne.